Love Over Loyalty (ImagineClan challenge)
by Stormy Ships Jisbon
Summary: In the midst of a battle, Whiteflower has a choice. Her little sister, or the medicine cat apprentice whose mentor is on the verge of dying? Who should she save?My third and last ImagineClan challenge! Yay! :D Please read and review! Rated T for violence and blood.


**Welcome to my third (and last) challenge for ImagineClan! I hope you enjoy reading it, because I had fun writing it! :)**

"Whiteflower! Hurry up! We need to go hunt!"

Whiteflower's eyes flew open. She had only meant to doze for a little while, but as she peered out of the warriors den from her nest right next to the entrance, and at the sky that had faint streaks of pink and orange, she realized that she had been sleeping for almost half of the day.

She quickly jumped to her paws and shook out her fur, sending bits of moss and dirt flying. She realized with a jolt of sadness that she would have to go collect moss for her nest, for it was completely destroyed.

"Whiteflower, come on! We're going to leave without you!"

"Coming!" Whiteflower yowled, quickly bounding out of the den.

A very annoyed-looking patrol of cats watched her every move as she neared them.

Whiteflower was too busy watching them so she forgot to look where she was going and tripped over her paws, falling flat on her face. She heard a snort of laughter and scrambled to her paws quickly, pelt burning with embarrassment.

"Come on, Whiteflower," Brackentail mewed, obviously irritated.

"Sorry!" Whiteflower mewed softly, walking slowly towards him and the rest of the patrol. _Nothing else can go wrong. I've already embarrassed myself thoroughly today._

"Whiteflower! Wait for me!" A small voice squeaked.

Whiteflower groaned inwardly. She turned around to see her younger sister, Ivykit, racing towards her, her short little legs pumping madly.

"Take me with you!" Ivykit squeaked, almost running head first into the white she-cat.

"No, you have to wait until you're an apprentice," Whiteflower mewed impatiently, glancing behind her to see the angry glares of the patrol.

"Please!" Ivykit cried, her dark blue eyes wide. "The camp is so boring, and so are the other kits!" she complained loudly.

"Too bad!" Whiteflower snapped, her tolerance thinning. "Just go do something. Go listen to the elders tell a story, or-"

"But I want to come with you!" Ivykit wailed.

"Just shut up!" Whiteflower exploded. "Just go play, and be a stupid kit, and for StarClan's sake, LEAVE ME ALONE!" The white-she-cat whipped around and raced after the patrol that had already left the camp, leaving a stunned kit behind her.

* * *

Whiteflower walked slowly back to camp, two mice in her jaws. She felt bad for yelling at the two-moon old kit, and decided to apologize to her in the morning.

Whiteflower just felt that she had to prove to the Clan that she deserved to be a warrior. She had barely been able to become a warrior in the first place, her klutziness and loudness almost ruining her assessment.

Whiteflower dipped her head to Shadowfern, the cat on guard, as she padded into the camp. She quietly dropped her prey on the fresh-kill pile before lightly padding across the camp and to the warriors den. She flopped into her nest and gazed up at the night sky, the bright stars twinkling innocently above.

_Make her forgive me, StarClan._

* * *

It felt like she had only closed her eyes for a moment before the sound of a SnowClan battle cry reached her ears.

Whiteflower's eyes popped open, and she jumped to her paws, yowling loudly in an attempt to wake all of the other cats. Whiteflower sprinted outside to see SnowClan cats pouring through the entrance of the camp. She guessed that Shadowfern was already dead, or severely injured. Out of the three Clans, SnowClan was the most vicious.

The LeafClan cats surged out of their dens, snarling angrily.

Whiteflower was feeling excited, but also nervous. She could prove that she was meant to be a warrior!

Time seemed to slow down as the two Clans charged towards each other. Whiteflower raced towards the invading Clan, her heart pounding so loudly that she thought that everyone could hear it.

And then the cats met, claws slashing, angry hisses and yowls shattering the peace of the night.

Whiteflower was faced with a slightly larger gray tom.

"I didn't know they let weak little apprentices fight," the gray tom taunted.

"I'm not weak, nor am I an apprentice," Whiteflower growled, leaping towards the tom.

He dodged easily, and Whiteflower received a slightly deep scratch on her side.

She let out a gasp of pain, but whirled around slashed at the tom's face. She felt satisfaction spread through her as her claws met flesh, and the tom's cry of pain reached her ears. She clumsily jumped on top of the tom, who had crumpled to the ground in the process, and clawed his back several times before leaping off of him.

Whiteflower looked around, searching for a cat that she could aid in fighting. She suddenly heard a cry for help, and looked over to see Owlpaw, the medicine cat apprentice, being cornered by a large, pale ginger tom.

Whiteflower was about to race towards the terrified brown-and-white she-cat, when a small cry arose from the sound of snarling cats.

_Ivykit!_

The little calico she-cat was being pinned down by a brown tabby, who was getting prepared to rip open the small kit's belly.

"Someone please help!" Owlpaw screeched, her amber eyes wide with fear.

Whiteflower panicked. Who could she help? Her little sister who she loved dearly, or the medicine cat apprentice, whose mentor was on the verge of dying?

A sudden memory flashed into Whiteflower's mind.

_Whitepaw waited anxiously outside the nursery, waiting for her mother to finish kitting. She was too nervous to eat or sleep, instead choosing to sit outside the nursery, in the pouring rain._

_Finally, after what seemed like forever, Silverwing poked her head out of the nursery._

_"You can come in now, Whitepaw," the medicine cat whispered._

_Whitepaw tripped over her paws in her excitement to see the new kits, falling flat on her face._

_She quickly scrambled to her paws, shaking the dirt and mud out of her now-brown pelt._

_She quietly tiptoed into the nursery, barely able to contain her excitement._

_Whitepaw realized something wrong right away. Near the edge of the nest were two unmoving brown-and-white kits._

_"What happened?" Whitepaw asked, looking up at the medicine cat._

_"They were still-born," Silverwing mewed sadly._

_Whitepaw then looked at her mother's belly. A single calico kit was suckling contentedly, purring ever so often. Whitepaw looked up at her mother's face, whose eyes were closed, and who didn't seem to be breathing._

_"Flowerheart?" she breathed._

_And suddenly, there was blood. Surrounding her mother, and her little sister._

_The tiny calico kit whimpered loudly._

_"Flowerheart!" Whitepaw wailed._

_Silverwing was only staring at the dying she-cat._

_"Do something!" Whitepaw yelled at the medicine cat._

_Silverwing shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to help her," she whispered sadly._

_"W-Whitepaw." Whitepaw looked behind her to see her mother gazing right at her, pale green eyes open wide. "T-take care of my kits... Promise me that you'll protect them when they're in danger."_

_"I promise," Whitepaw whispered, unable to contain a wail of sadness as her mother closed her eyes and let out one last breath._

Whiteflower looked over at Owlpaw who was screeching in fright, then back at Ivykit, who was frozen in fear beneath the tom.

She knew what she had to do.

Whiteflower turned her back to her sister, instead charging towards the terrified medicine cat apprentice.

"Leave her alone!" Whiteflower yowled, leaping onto the tom and clawing him rapidly.

"SnowClan- retreat!" The loud yowl sounded throughout the camp. The tom beneath her threw her off and clawed her on her already injured side before following the rest of his Clan out of the camp.

Whiteflower rose to her paws, side stinging. Without waiting for a thanks from Owlpaw, the white she-cat limped over to where her sister was laying.

She let out a cry when she saw her sister, a deep scratch going down her underside. "Ivykit! Ivykit, please don't die!" Whiteflower pushed her nose in her sister's cold pelt, breathing in her scent for the last time. "Please..." She curled up beside her sister, knowing that it was useless and that Ivykit wasn't coming back.

_Flowerheart, I'm so sorry. I should have saved Ivykit, I don't know what I was thinking!_

Whiteflower looked up at the sky, where a new star was shining brightly.

_Goodbye Ivykit._

***Sniffs* I thought the ending was sad. :( On a happy note though, this is my last ImagineClan challenge! :D I'm going to be a warrior! :D Please review! :)**


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